The present invention relates generally to drag or braking mechanisms for fishing reels; and, more specifically, the invention concerns fishing reels of the type consisting of a rotary-mounted spool for the fishing line, means of braking the rotation of the spool manually adjustable through an hydraulic cylinder containing a first piston kinematically connected with the adjustment means and a second piston kinematically connected with the braking means.
In known devices of this kind, such as exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 3,322,369, the second piston acts on ramps, each integral with one of the jaws of a drum brake. The hydraulic cylinder serves to transmit the diplacement of the manually adjustable piston to the second piston and to the brake jaws. Therefore, once the different elements constituting the braking means are brought in contact with each other, the braking force is applied abruptly, since nothing is provided to reduce the displacement of the manually adjusted piston. In fact, for a relatively slight displacement of the adjustment piston, a very rapid increase of braking force occurs. This is undersirable for a number of reasons, one of which being line breakage upon abrupt braking.
The fishing reel according to the present invention avoids the aforesaid problem since the force exerted on the braking means by the adjustment means is applied very gradually.